title: Degradation of the potential rodent contraceptive quinestrol and elimination of its estrogenic activity in soil and water.
abstract: Quinestrol has shown potential for use in the fertility control of the plateau pika population of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. However, the environmental safety and fate of this compound are still obscure. Our study investigated degradation of quinestrol in a local soil and aquatic system for the first time. The results indicate that the degradation of quinestrol follows first-order kinetics in both soil and water, with a dissipation half-life of approximately 16.0 days in local soil. Microbial activity heavily influenced the degradation of quinestrol, with 41.2% removal in non-sterile soil comparing to 4.8% removal in sterile soil after incubation of 10 days. The half-lives in neutral water (pH 7.4) were 0.75 h when exposed to UV light (λ = 365 nm) whereas they became 2.63 h when exposed to visible light (λ > 400 nm). Acidic conditions facilitated quinestrol degradation in water with shorter half-lives of 1.04 and 1.47 h in pH 4.0 and pH 5.0 solutions, respectively. Moreover, both the soil and water treatment systems efficiently eliminated the estrogenic activity of quinestrol. Results presented herein clarify the complete degradation of quinestrol in a relatively short time. The ecological and environmental safety of this compound needs further investigation.
authors.affiliation: College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wanpeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jiapeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yanming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Meirong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D006207:Half-Life; D007700:Kinetics; D011800:Quinestrol / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D012375:Rodent Control / Q000379:methods; D012377:Rodentia; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D018609:Tibet; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D012987:Soil; D011800:Quinestrol